


the other side

by iubi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Injury, Character Death, M/M, Suicide, this is dark as hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:20:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28896543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iubi/pseuds/iubi
Summary: Jaehyun just wants to wake up.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28
Collections: Challenge #4 — Awaken The World





	the other side

The worst things always happen when you least expect them. 

The thing with Jaehyun, however, is that he's _always_ expecting bad things to happen. It's the kind of defense mechanism one develops when the whole world crumbles in front of their very eyes and they're left grasping at the pieces. It's _safe_ , in a way, thinking that it can always be worse, _expecting_ it even, because being taken by surprise can prove to be fatal and Jaehyun's been much too good at keeping himself alive to slip now. 

After all, it's better to constantly be scared than dead. 

And yet it's not fear he feels when Ten stops him from giving the rest a quick report of their rounds, a quick smile thrown over his shoulder at Jaehyun's questioning gaze before he says, voice deceptively level, "I think I need one of you to shoot me." 

Jaehyun doesn't feel anything. For a moment he just stares at the back of Ten's head, hair freshly cut short by Jaehyun's hands, just a bit uneven since Ten kept laughing and pulling Jaehyun down to kiss him instead of letting him do a proper job of it, and uselessly tries to make sense of his words. 

Doyoung is the one that speaks, stepping forward as if he might shake Ten out of it, eyes wide and unbelieving, "Show me where." he says slowly, voice way less steady than Ten's. 

Jaehyun can't _think._ "No." he says, registers the words after they come out, can barely even recognize them as his own over the loud static in his head, "No, don't! Stop moving!" 

It’s loud enough that everybody seems to freeze, Jaehyun’s tone so grating it almost hurts as it comes out, but he’s grabbing Ten’s arm before he can even think of what he’s doing, just knows that he wants him out of here. It makes Doyoung’s expression curl into a frown and he moves as if to follow them, Johnny right behind him, but Jaehyun can’t deal with them, not right now, not before he manages to get a better grasp of _this_ , whatever Ten is trying to say. 

“Jaehyun-" Johnny’s words falter at the gun pointed at him. Jaehyun’s hands are trembling, but they both know he wouldn’t miss. _I don’t think there’s any other rule worth mentioning besides, you know, don’t point it at a friend_ , his own words echo in his mind, the only real thought he can properly make out over the terrible panic drowning everything else. 

“I’m sorry,” he manages to force out before he drags Ten away, thankful at the very least that there’s no other complaint as he pulls him into the furthest room and locks the door behind them. 

“Jaehyun-ah,” Ten says softly, none of the usual cheer to his voice as Jaehyun lets himself lean on the wall behind him, slowly sliding down as his legs seem to give under his weight, his whole body heavy with a realisation he can’t seem to shake off. 

“Show me, hyung, please,” he begs, clears his throat as the words catch, mouth so dry he can barely speak. 

“I don’t think-" 

“ _Please,”_

Ten sighs, a quiet, defeated sound, and Jaehyun just wants to close his eyes and wake up. He presses his palms against his eyes as Ten crouches in front of him, tries to get his breathing level even if his heart rate keeps picking up, so fast it hurts as it pounds against his chest, but then Ten pulls back his sleeve and Jaehyun stops breathing entirely. 

It's barely a bite, more of a graze really, and Jaehyun pulls his hand closer to inspect the teeth marks on Ten's wrist, the blood covering the delicate line of his wrist bone, the spot Jaehyun's own lips have pressed to before. It's barely anything, but when Jaehyun looks up to meet Ten's eyes, he shakes his head, the line of his mouth solemn. There's no teasing smile pulling at his lips, no indication that this might just be the worst prank Ten has ever played of him, only this terrible acceptance in every line of Ten's body. 

Jaehyun closes his eyes, "Tell me it's not real, hyung."

But he already knows that it is, no matter how fervently he might wish for the opposite, and he tries to figure out when it happened, between the scuffles they had with those clickers and Ten's victorious smile as he pulled Jaehyun in for a kiss after they took care of them. 

"It was that runner," Ten says, as if he can read Jaehyun's thoughts. Maybe he can, maybe all these years together have made it easier to read what Jaehyun's thinking in the furrow of his brow and the glint to his eyes, and he slides his other hand along Jaehyun's cheek, touch so gentle it almost burns his skin, "Just before we got back. When it jumped me, I tried to push it off, but it grazed my wrist before I could." 

It grazed his wrist. It's been years and years of fighting these things and running away from them and trying to build the closest thing they could to a life and all it took was one second and Jaehyun's whole world is crumbling. Again. Jaehyun can't help the laugh that bubbles up, the frantic edge to it. He's the biggest liar there is, because Jaehyun has never expected the worst, he just didn't care if the whole world went to shit all over again if he had Ten. It's funny how that goes. 

He laughs so hard he starts crying and Ten gathers him in his arms, whispers sweet nothings against his hair as tears slip down his face to drip on Jaehyun's forehead, warm and wet and entirely too real. Jaehyun badly wants to wake up. 

♦ ♦ ♦

“Jaehyun-ah! Stop trying to peek or you’ll ruin the surprise!” Ten chides, breath warm on the back of Jaehyun’s neck as he tries to steer him in the right direction without actually taking his hands off his eyes. His fingers are cold, the early autumn air not quite biting yet, but cool enough that his thin shirt would definitely not be enough without Ten’s reassuring warmth at his back. 

To be fair, he didn’t even know that they would be going to the roof, but even if he did, Ten had already stolen his hoodie, claiming that Jaehyun ran too hot for his own good anyway and if need be, he would make sure to keep him warm. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been a fan of surprises.” Jaehyun says around a smile, foot catching on a stair and snorting when Ten also trips behind him, “Hyung, I thought I was the only one with my eyes covered.” 

“Oh, shut up, it’s just because you’re too tall.” 

“I don’t think you need to look over my head to see the stairs.”

Ten doesn’t grace that with a reply, “You know, surprises can be good sometimes. There’s no need to be mister pessimistic _all_ the time, Jaehyun-ah, I promise the world won’t end if you take a minute to just be happy in this moment.” 

The thing is that the world has already ended once. Jaehyun quite believes that people turning into highly infectious, mindless zombies like in one of those shitty budget horror movies is enough of a surprise to last them a lifetime, and with the amount of people they’ve lost, Jaehyun’s amazed Ten can still enjoy surprises. But Ten’s smile is one thing Jaehyun’s not quite ready to lose, so what he says instead is, “I’m always happy when I’m with you.” 

Ten’s breath hitches at that, “You’re a sap,” he says, but his voice comes out just a bit shaky, words curving all round and soft around his smile. 

“I’d prefer _hopeless romantic_.” Jaehyun says, easily stopping when Ten does. From what he can tell they’re in the middle of the rooftop, the air a bit colder up here, even more so with the sun setting, but he keeps his eyes closed even as Ten lets him go. He misses the familiar warmth as soon as Ten steps back and he rolls his shoulders to mask the shiver that runs up his spine. 

“Whatever it is, it’s incurable.” Ten says, clearly amused, “You can open your eyes now.” 

It’s Jaehyun’s turn for his breath to hitch when he opens his eyes and they go wide as he takes in the sight in front of him. The candles are the first thing he really registers, both the tall ones placed in the center of the raggedy blanket on the ground and the tiny ones around it, arranged meticulously in the shape of hearts, their tiny flames barely flickering as they light up the entire rooftop. There are pillows too, a bunch of them, and two mismatched glasses with a bottle of fancy looking whiskey between them. 

“And clearly contagious. When did you even prepare all of this? Or rather, where did you find all of this?” 

Ten laughs, grabs Jaehyun’s hand to get him to sit down on one of the pillows before immediately settling down right next to him, shifting his hand so he can intertwine their fingers. His eyes are glimmering with the last vestiges of the sun and the tiny flames of the candles and bathed in their soft light, he looks outright unreal, enough that Jaehyun has to wonder if maybe he’s dreaming. 

“Now, now, that’s not what’s important.” 

Jaehyun licks his lips, smiling as Ten’s gaze briefly drops to his mouth before it travels back to his eyes, his wide smile curving into something sweeter as his eyes almost imperceptibly darken, “Yeah? Then what is?” 

“If you like it.” Ten whispers, voice low and careful as he deliberately meets Jaehyun’s eyes, making desire spill all warm and sticky in the pit of his stomach, crawling up his ribs and filling him up until he can’t even breathe anymore. 

“I do. I absolutely love it.” Jaehyun says, tugging on Ten’s hand until he can pull him in his lap, sliding a hand along his cheek and enjoying the way the soft skin warms under his fingers, Ten’s lashes fluttering as he leans into the touch, responsive and sweet for him, “But more than that, I love _you_ , with or without all the candles and pillows.” 

“Mm, but they’re a nice bonus.” 

And if this is a dream, Jaehyun doesn’t want to wake up, “They are. The kisses are too.” 

Ten laughs at that, loud and cheery and absolutely delightful, the most beautiful sound if Jaehyun had to choose one, and he leans in to press his mouth to Jaehyun’s, the kiss more air and laughter than anything else. It’s warm and familiar and easy and Jaehyun always feels like he’s waking up when Ten kisses him, like the whole world is just a lie and this is the only moment of truth, the only time when he can be honest, when he can just simply enjoy the taste of Ten’s lips without having to think about anything else, about tomorrow and what comes next.

Ten pulls back before Jaehyun gets to deepen the kiss and he smiles at Jaehyun’s clear confusion, leaning over to press another, much gentler kiss to the tips of his nose, “Now I didn’t bring you all the way here just so we could kiss.” 

“No?” Jaehyun asks shrewdly, earning himself a slap to the chest. 

“You’re lucky you’re pretty.” 

“And incredibly charming.” 

Ten snorts at that, but he doesn’t bother with denying it, possibly because he knows Jaehyun wouldn’t buy it. He does tell Jaehyun that he prepared all of this because he accidentally found this bottle of whiskey on one of his runs with Donghyuck and he thought they could enjoy it together. Of course Donghyuck fought Ten about it, since he had the same idea, but Ten seemingly bribed him with something better that’s a secret even to Jaehyun. 

“Bros’ honour and all that.” 

“I think,” Jaehyun says around his laughter as he pours them each a glass, “that might be the first time I’ve ever even heard you say that word.” 

Ten shrugs, “Too much time around the kids I guess.” 

None of them are really kids anyway, but Jaehyun doesn’t argue it, clinking his glass against Ten’s before taking a tentative sip. It’s very strong and Ten immediately chokes on it, face twisting with clear distaste as Jaehyun laughs at him.

“Maybe I should have given it to Donghyuck after all.” Ten says as he glares at his still mostly full glass, but he easily melts into Jaehyun’s touch when he pulls him in for a kiss. The jarring, bitter taste of the alcohol is softened by Ten’s mouth, and it feels sweeter as Jaehyun licks it from Ten’s tongue, sucking on the tip of it and sliding his tongue against the soft inside of his cheeks. “Or, well, maybe not.” 

It burns down his throat whenever Jaehyun takes a sip and Ten grimaces every time, but neither of them seem eager to stop, and they easily sweeten the taste of it with sugary, thorough kisses, each one deeper and messier than the previous one as the world starts to blur out of focus around them. 

“You know, this thing actually reminds me of you.” Ten says against his mouth, breath all warm and quick as he starts pressing fluttery kisses to Jaehyun’s jaw, words just a bit slurred. 

“That your way of telling me I taste like shit?” 

“No!” Ten says, emphasises it with a bite, “No, I mean like this is basically impossible to find with how rare it is and not everyone knows how to appreciate it, even if anyone can easily get drunk on it.” 

“Mm, so you’re telling me I’m unique and only you know how to appreciate me?” 

“See? I told you I liked you for your sexy brain.” 

Jaehyun bursts into laughter at that, easy and light and airy with all the alcohol thrumming in his veins, making his whole body buzz. Or rather, it’s Ten that’s making him feel like this and the alcohol just makes it very hard to ignore as he pulls him in for another kiss, both of them breathless and lightheaded, but needy for more. 

“You should never leave me then.” Jaehyun says and it feels dangerous, like a promise neither of them should make, but shielded under the cover of the night and the tiny flames surrounding them like a sea of stars, everything feels possible, the weight of Ten’s mouth on top of his at once both grounding and terribly damning. 

“I won’t.” Ten whispers, as if he’s aware too, his voice low enough that not even the stars can hear him, “You know I won’t.” 

♦ ♦ ♦

“Will you kiss me, hyung?” Jaehyun whispers against his collarbones, voice all wet with tears and face sticky and terrible. He feels dizzy, off balance and fuzzy, like he’s been drinking, but without any of the euphoria accompanying it, nor the easy laughter and sweet touches, just the terrible and overwhelming panic with nothing to soothe it. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good-” Ten’s words peter out when he meets Jaehyun’s eyes. And Jaehyun’s not sure what he sees in them, what he sees written plainly on his face, because Jaehyun can’t make out what he’s feeling, everything too dark and too heavy and _too much_ to even begin to unravel, but it’s enough for Ten to pull him in for a kiss. 

It’s bruising, painful in its desperation, and it _hurts_ , the familiar weight of Ten’s mouth much too heavy for Jaehyun to breath, fear clawing its way up the inside of his ribs and wrapping around his heart until every breath shakes his body, an unrelenting sort of pain welling up from inside him, like he’s drowning and drowning and drowning. 

Ten begs Jaehyun to kill him between kisses and apologies and Jaehyun just sinks deeper and deeper, but he can’t bring himself to do it, not with Ten so clearly himself, because Jaehyun can’t smother the brightest thing in his life with his own hands, not now or ever. So he watches Ten lose himself, watches all of the pieces that make Ten who he is disappear into thin air as the virus takes hold of him and those beautiful eyes of his lose their light. 

Jaehyun can’t even feel the pain of the bite when Ten sinks his teeth into his shoulder and he gently pats his hair as he whispers to unhearing ears, “Don’t worry, hyung, I’ll join you soon enough.” 

He shoots Ten when he tries to escape the room, watches his lifeless eyes as he falls next to him, blood draining out of the wound to seep into Jaehyun’s clothes. It’s terribly warm, but Jaehyun feels cold all over, a bone deep chill that he can’t seem to shake off even as he curls in on himself, numb and empty. 

And he doesn’t even know how long he stays like that before they kick the door open and Doyoung’s worried face slips into focus in front of him, “Fuck, Jaehyun, it’s been almost an entire day, are you ok?” 

_One day_. It took Ten barely an hour to turn and here Jaehyun is, bite throbbing and body cold all over with none of the symptoms to take this away from him. If he hadn’t been crying for so long that he can’t even feel his face anymore, he might just have laughed at the irony of it. Jeong Jaehyun, the first person to be immune to the deadly virus. 

“Don’t worry, hyung, I will be.” 

Doyoung’s words don’t register when he brings the gun to his head, though Jaehyun is pretty sure that he’s screaming, and he doesn’t move quite fast enough to stop him before he pulls the trigger. 

It’s almost easier than falling asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/miinimark) or [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/miinimark).


End file.
